ES2550002T3 - Dispensing device - Google Patents

Abstract

A dispensing device comprising a loading chamber (12), a dispensing chamber (14) located below the loading chamber, a gate or shutter (24) that can be manually moved between a first open position and a second closed position for allow selective communication between the loading chamber and the dispensing chamber and a first indicating means (102), and characterized in that the first indicating means comprises a first indicating element (114) that can move between a first retracted position and a second extended position and is held in the first stowed position when the gate or shutter (24) is in the closed position, moving to the second extended position when the gate or shutter (24) moves from the closed position to the open position , and because the device further comprises means for pushing the indicator element (114) from the retracted position to the pos Extended position.

Description

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extension of the relative displacement of the two strips (114 and 116), therefore, is determined by the length of the groove (122) through which the pivot pin passes

(120) and the length of the elongated entree (126).

The end of the front strip (114) in front of the groove (122) is provided with a nose that projects outwardly (128) to facilitate longitudinal displacement of the front strip (114), as will be explained later. The front face of the front strip (114) is also provided with an elongated locking recess (130) towards its right edge (as seen in Figure 1), which is adapted to receive the end of a blocking projection with complementary form (132) secured to the upper face of the gate (24), when the gate is in the closed position, [and] the cover plate (104) is provided with a recess (134) at its lower edge for allow coupling of the blocking projection (128) with the blocking inlet

(126) on the strip (114).

The front face of the front strip (114) of the indicator finger (102) also carries a barcode (CB) that identifies the product that is inside the dispenser. The barcode is located in such a way that it is normally fully visible, but is partially hidden when the front strip (114) slides down with respect to the rear strip (116).

The rear strip (116) of the indicator finger (102) (and, therefore, the indicator finger (102) as a whole) is pushed, by means of a torsion spring (136) connected to the strip

(116) and to the back of the cover plate (104), towards an extreme orientation ("the extended position") shown in Figure 1, in which the indicator finger

(102)

 It extends vertically. As shown in Figure 4, the indicator finger is prevented from pivoting beyond the vertical position when recessed with one of the vertical handles (108) on the back of the cover plate (104). The indicator finger

(102)

 it can be manually pivoted to the other extreme orientation, at a right angle to the other extreme position ("the stowed position"), against the force of the torsion spring

(132) and can be held in that position by closing the gate (24), which causes the end of the projection (132) on the gate (24) to engage with the recess (130) on the front face of the front strip (114) of the indicator finger (102).

During use, items that are the same or similar are placed in the loading chamber (12) and in the dispensing chamber (14) in preparation for dispensing. The bar (34) is hooked over the upper handle (20) to avoid the involuntary opening of the door (16). The articles can be easily identified by means of the label (32) disposed on the handle (22) and the articles located in the lower dispensing chamber (14) are removed by opening the door (18) of the dispensing chamber. Under these conditions, the gate (24) is pushed into the cover to its fullest extent. This prevents the contents of the upper loading chamber (12) from moving into the lower dispensing chamber. It also causes the blocking projection (132) on the upper face of the gate (24) to engage with the locking recess (130) on the front face of the front strip (114) of the indicator finger. This keeps the indicator finger (102) in the retracted position and serves to indicate to an observer that the gate has not been opened, that is, that the upper loading chamber (12) still contains products to be transferred to the dispensing chamber lower.

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loading If the front strip (114) is red, the rear strip (116) is yellow

or anbar and the additional colored area (142) on the front face of the outer strip is green, then the device user is given an indication in the form of a "traffic light" red, amber / yellow or green, as sample, in order to show the status of the dispensing device.

A second variant of the present invention is illustrated in Figures 9a to 9d. This is identical in most of its aspects to the device of Figures 1 to 7, modified by the variation of Figure 8, and the same reference numbers have been assigned to the same characteristics, with the addition of an apostrophe (') . The main difference is that the front strip (114 ') and the rear strip (116') are interconnected by a retention mechanism, such that when the front strip (114 ') is in its extended position after the opening of the gate (24), may be in the position shown in Figure 9a, in which it completely covers the rear strip (116 ') (in whose position only the color (for example, red) of the front strip is visible) or in the position shown in Figure 9b, where it moves down with respect to the rear strip (116 ') (in which position the color (for example, yellow) of the upper part of the rear strip is also visible) , but not in any other intermediate position.

This is achieved by providing to the rear face of the front strip (114 ') a small circular handle (146) that can be moved on a track (148) in the rear strip (116'), arranged in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rear strip The track is generally narrower than the diameter of the handle, but is provided with two recesses (150 and 152) in a side wall of the track that form two track parts of the same width as the diameter of the handle (146) and which correspond to the position of the handle (146) when they are in the positions shown in Figures 9a and 9b, respectively. The wall of the track on which the recesses are provided forms an edge of a flexible finger (154) in the rear strip (116 ') and the displacement of the front strip (114') causes the finger to flex (since the handle is wider than most parts of the track), as shown in Figures 9b and 9d, until the handle (146) sits on one of the recesses (150 or 152), where said handle is retained by the elasticity of the finger (154). A spring (156) mounted on the rear strip (116 ') also exerts pressure against the flexible finger (154) to complement the inherent elasticity of the finger (154) when it moves.

It will also be noted that the upper part of the rear strip (116 ') bears the printed word SCANNED ("IT IS CANEED"). In addition, it is a different color (for example, yellow) than the front strip (114 '), in order to provide additional confirmation that measures have been taken to replenish the contents of the upper chamber of the dispenser.

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Claims (1)

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